Archive for November 2013

We had a water crisis a couple of nights ago; an old pipe split. The crew ran a hose to the house until they could get it fixed, and we left it that way all night. It would have been fine, except the hose sprang a leak overnight. In the morning we had puddles. Big puddles. They did no harm, and Peaches thought they were delightful. Boarder Jill caught her reclining in her Noble Lioness pose, looking thoughtful — and wet.

Today, Peaches, visitor Spur, and neighbor Skip spent most of the day playing in the puddle. They rolled, wrestled, and galloped back and forth, spraying water everywhere. When all three of them hit that puddle full speed, it sounded like a seal stampede.

The puddle is drying out fast now, but there is rain in the forecast. We may be in for a lot of muddy floors this year.

And the first fog. I leaned out the door this morning to discover wisps of ground fog softening the scene. I grabbed my new Canon Powershot and took a few pictures.

It looks like the Canon is going to be a good camera for me. In this shot, at the very top of the burned-out poplar is a tiny speck. I zoomed in on it to see what quality picture I would get at that distance.

Lo and behold — it’s a woodpecker!

That’s pretty good quality for a point-and-shoot at extreme zoom. I think this camera and I are going to get along.

There was one problem. I was surprised when I opened the box and discovered that a USB cable was not included. Every other camera I’ve bought had one as standard equipment. Apparently Canon, at least with this SX170, considers it an accessory. I went online to find the correct cable, then off to Target. They referred me to Radio Shack, where they found one right away.

Right now, there’s a mild Santa Ana blowing, and I just heard the rending crack of a tree going down. It’s not a very strong wind, but it seems it doesn’t take much to take deadwood down. It’s good weather for staying in and getting ready for Thanksgiving . . . which is what I’m going to go work on right now.

It’s rare for me to miss two days, but like everyone else at this time of year, I’ve been busy.

Since I dropped my old camera on its head a while back, I’ve been looking up new ones. I think I’ve decided, and as soon as I get it, I’ll be taking pictures of everything that doesn’t run away fast enough. The iPhone is just not a real substitute.

But it is nice to take it on the trail and get pictures taken between your horse’s ears!

Just a short post today — it’s been a very busy weekend, with riders going in every direction. Marion and I managed to get a very pleasant ride in. It was so nice not to be riding in a choking pall of dust, but in a fresh and sweet-smelling landscape.

We got a good sunset, too, but I took this dramatic cloudscape off to the east.

We’re supposed to have a rainy Thanksgiving, and that’ll be fine with us!

I thought we were doing well with that .26 on Wednesday. Thursday the heavens opened, and we ended up with a storm total of nearly an inch. There was nearly a lake in the arena.

After things began to dry out a little, I went down to the river to see if any water had come down.

It hadn’t.

I should have said we went down to the river . . .

Anyway, although there was no actual river in the river, I’m sure that the new growth benefited from the heavy rain. It looked refreshed.

I missed blogging yesterday, but there was a good reason. I had just sat down to edit these pictures when there was a bellow from the living room. “Roberta! I’m stuck!” Billy’s lift chair had sheared a pin in mid-lift, and he could get neither up nor down. I got behind the chair and pushed, and we managed to get him tipped out. It didn’t take long to decide that the chair was a goner, and Scott and I made a flying trip to Weatherby’s to get him a new one. He can’t get up and down with a regular recliner. By the time we got back and the new chair set up, it was pretty late.

Anyway, it’s a nice new chair, and should last him for quite a while. I’ll have to remember to get some batteries for it, or the next time the power goes out, he’ll end up in the same position.

The forecasters were calling for a trace of rain, or maybe .03 if we were lucky. Instead, we got a healthy .26, and a bit more this morning. It rained hard last night, and gently this morning. In fact, it was still sprinkling when I took this shot.

They didn’t predict thunder and lightning either. Billy and I were sitting in the living room, well after dark, when I saw the sky go white to the northeast. We didn’t hear any thunder, so for a few moments we weren’t sure it was lightning. Then there was another flash, and a slow rolling rumble. Lightning, all right.

Then boarder Jill came in, kind of wide-eyed. We knew she had been riding in the lighted arena, and I had looked out to make sure she was all right. She had gotten off and gotten her horse back to his pen, and was walking back when the lightning struck. She swore it had hit the light pole down by the old wooden tackroom, only a few yards away from her. Billy went out and looked, and couldn’t see any marks on the pole, but we aren’t experienced enough with lightning strikes to know whether there would have been any. At any rate, all of the horses were up and all right, so all’s well.